TRURO, England -- Tourists said they saw a great white shark off the England coast at Cornwall and the reports are hurting the area's tourist trade.

Shark experts told Sky News that it's possible, but not likely, that the shark was a great white. Officials said the reports from tourists in recent weeks were never confirmed.

The reported sightings are damaging an already battered tourist industry with what amounts to "scaremongering," local officials told Sky News.

Richard Peirce, who heads the conservation group Shark Trust, said it was impossible to rule out a genuine sighting but added it may have been another type of shark, such as a mako or a porbeagle rather than a man-eating great white shark, Sky News said.